Our Reconciliation Journey… So Far

Learning, listening, and building relationships through food, community, and shared foundational values.

The Kimberley Cranbrook Food Network works within the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation and the homelands of the Métis Nation.

As a network focused on land, food, and community, reconciliation is not separate from our work — it is part of it. Conversations about food security, farming, gardening, and local economies in this region must also include Indigenous food systems, land history, and the ongoing impacts of colonization.

For us, reconciliation is not a statement to publish. It is ongoing relationship work.

In updating our territory acknowledgement practices — as individuals, within our organizations, and collectively as a network — we have been guided by Len Pierre’s Transformative Territory Acknowledgement Guide, which challenges us to move beyond scripted or performative acknowledgements toward reflection, accountability, and action.

As described in Len Pierre’s guide (and in the video presentation shared below), territory acknowledgements can evolve:

from institutional scripts,
to personal reflection,
to transformative acknowledgement that recognizes colonial systems and settler privilege.

Territory Acknowledgement: Moving Beyond Words

We continue to reflect on how we acknowledge territory in ways that are meaningful and connected to our actions.

To learn more about the Ktunaxa Nation and the lands we live and work on, we encourage visiting the website of the Ktunaxa Nation Council and exploring their frameworks and teachings.

Ongoing Conversations With Jared Basil

Since 2023, members of KCFN have had the privilege of learning with Jared Basil of Eagle Eye Group.

Jared is a Cultural Framework Educator who supports organizations and communities on their journey toward reconciliation through cultural safety education, dialogue, and facilitation.

Through our sessions together, we have explored themes such as:

The Ktunaxa food story — and how food systems changed through colonization.
The tension between extractive systems and reciprocity-based worldviews.
The impact of “trophy” mentalities versus long-term stewardship for the health of future generations.
The relationship between food, land, culture, and spirituality.
Values-based alignment — and how ensuring our actions reflect the foundational principles we share across communities helps make reconciliation a lived practice rather than a separate initiative.

One phrase that stayed with us from Jared’s talks — and continues to resonate across the interconnected work of our member organizations — was:

“Food grounds us in togetherness.”

We have also reflected on the idea that spirituality — distinct from religion — can be understood as the lived values behind our work: reciprocity, humility, responsibility, and care for one another and the land we live on together.

These conversations have helped us recognize both the opportunities and the awkwardness that can arise when non-Indigenous groups attempt to “incorporate traditional foods” into programming without established relationships. We are learning that relationship building must come before action.

Jared has expressed his commitment to continuing this work with us, and we remain committed to learning in ways that are respectful, reciprocal, and community-guided.

If you would like to learn more about Jared’s work, you can visit Eagle Eye Group to learn more.

Learning From Indigenous Food Sovereignty Leadership

Our understanding of food systems work in this region has been shaped by listening to Indigenous leaders, gatherings, and storytelling projects that centre relationships between land, food, language, and culture.

Through regional conversations such as the Interior Region Food Sovereignty Gathering (March 2023), we have heard directly about the realities, challenges, and strengths of Indigenous-led food systems — and how those teachings invite us to reflect on and reshape our own approaches to food security and community work.

From those conversations, several key themes emerged:

The ongoing impacts of colonization on access to land and traditional food systems.
The need for long-term, culturally grounded, accessible funding models.
The importance of partnerships rooted in respect and Indigenous knowledge.
The role of youth and intergenerational learning in sustaining food traditions.

These themes mirror what we continue to hear locally: food sovereignty is inseparable from land, language, culture, and governance.

We have also explored these ideas through film. The documentary Tea Creek tells the story of Indigenous food sovereignty work led by Jacob Beaton and his team at a land-based training farm in British Columbia. The film follows their efforts to revitalize Indigenous agricultural knowledge, grow and share culturally appropriate foods, and train future Indigenous food leaders — all in the face of colonial history and contemporary challenges.

Tea Creek has premiered at film festivals and is available through public broadcasters such as CBC Gem. It has also been the centrepiece of local screenings held by KCFN members in both Cranbrook and Kimberley.

For more on the film and the initiative itself, you can visit the official Tea Creek film website or the Tea Creek training initiative site.

From Teachings to Practice

Our reconciliation journey is ongoing.

Within our network, we have reflected on intersectionality — the understanding that each of us holds positions of both privilege and oppression within social systems. This awareness shapes not only how we approach reconciliation, but how we show up in our day-to-day work across our communities. It invites us to consider where we are located within systems of power, to listen before speaking, to remain open to correction, and to recognize that learning rarely has an endpoint.

We understand that this is long-term relationship work — grounded in humility, accountability, and a willingness to keep learning.

Our learning has also been shaped by frameworks such as Many Ways of Working on the Same Thing, which outlines Indigenous research principles grounded in relationship, reciprocity, and community accountability. These principles challenge extractive approaches and encourage long-term, relational ways of working — values that closely align with how we are striving to approach food systems work in this region.

Similarly, the Seven Generations principle invites us to consider the long-term impact of our decisions — not only for today, but for those who will come after us. Rooted in Haudenosaunee teachings, this principle challenges short-term thinking and extractive development models, offering a vision of sustainability that is relational, future-focused, and grounded in responsibility.

Together, these teachings reinforce a shift from extraction toward reciprocity — from short-term outcomes toward intergenerational responsibility.

As we continue to apply these learnings within our network, they are shaping how we show up in our work. In practice, this includes:

Ensuring our territory acknowledgements remain grounded in understanding and action, and that the words we use carry meaning for our organizations and the relationships they represent.
Sustaining our relationship and continued learning with Jared Basil.
Deepening our understanding of Ktunaxa language related to local plants and animals, and considering how those learnings can inform our work and collaborations.
Learning from Indigenous food sovereignty leadership and food stories, and reflecting on how those teachings can inform the gardens, kitchens, programs, and local food systems we help shape.
Shifting our approach to prioritize reciprocity and long-term, intergenerational stewardship over extraction or short-term outcomes.
Spending time learning within Indigenous communities, as part of strengthening reciprocal, place-based relationships
Holding space for open, respectful dialogue within our network, recognizing that reconciliation involves both learning and unlearning in our individual and organizational practices.

We recognize that meaningful reconciliation requires time, trust, and humility. We do not claim to have arrived anywhere final. This page will continue to evolve as our relationships, learnings, and work evolve.

Further Resources To Explore

Throughout this page, we’ve shared teachings, frameworks, gatherings, and conversations that have shaped our learning so far. Those resources continue to guide our reflection and practice.

Below are a few additional places to explore for those who wish to go deeper:

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action
The Ktunaxa Nation Council website and community frameworks
Indigenous-led journalism such as the Nourish: Food Sovereignty series on The Narwhal featuring reporting by Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood
The BC Office of the Provincial Health Officer’s Unlearning & Undoing Lab, and related learning opportunities such as the UBC Learning Circle webinar

These resources offer different lenses — from governance and journalism to public health and systems change — that deepen understanding of reconciliation and Indigenous food sovereignty in practice.

If you have suggestions, resources, or would like to connect with us about reconciliation and local food systems, we welcome the conversation.

Because if food grounds us in togetherness, then reconciliation must shape how we grow — and share — together, today and for generations to come.

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